


Loose Lips Sail Ships

by ticklishraspberries



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Tickle Fights, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-16 09:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17546861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ticklishraspberries/pseuds/ticklishraspberries
Summary: Michael goes to Jake for advice about his crush, and gets something even better.





	Loose Lips Sail Ships

**Author's Note:**

> * Just a quick note because I got an ask on tumblr after posting this fic - I do in fact know that sushi is technically Japanese but I live in New York and every Chinese food place near me serves sushi so I promise I'm not totally ignorant LOL.

Michael wasn’t good with making friends. Clearly, as he only had one for twelve years. But with the whole SQUIP ordeal that almost cost him that one friend, out came six new friends, as well as keeping Jeremy around. **  
**

That wasn’t to sugarcoat the SQUIP thing. That fucking sucked for everyone involved. But at least they could get through it together, right? Or maybe Michael just liked to be optimistic. But, Jeremy got the girl of his dreams, Chloe and Jake rekindled their romance, and Rich came out. So, it really wasn’t all bad.

However, seeing Jeremy and Christine together, or Chloe and Jake…Michael would be lying if he said it didn’t make him feel lonely. He knew he liked boys longer than he knew he was a boy. For obvious reasons, his two moms approved. But no boy had come around to sweep Michael off his feet yet, and he was starting to get impatient.

Sure, there was that weird period in which Michael thought he was in love with Jeremy. There definitely had been some truth to it, but as the years went on, his love grew more platonic. Perhaps it was just hearing Jeremy talk about Christine so much that knocked some sense into him.

But there was a new contender in the game for Michael Mell’s heart. A boy with freckles and scars and a speech impediment and a red streak in his hair. A boy who had recently come out as bisexual, and then asked Jeremy if his anti-social friend with the headphones was single.

Michael was the anti-social friend with headphones, if you couldn’t guess.

So, did Rich like him? Did Michael like Rich? God, feelings were too fucking confusing.

Michael was at a loss for what to do. He couldn’t ask Jeremy for relationship advice; just because Jeremy had a girlfriend didn’t mean he knew how he got her. He needed someone who actually knew how to flirt.

And then it hit him. Almost literally, because Jake had decided to race Brooke down the hallway in his wheelchair, her on a rolling chair she must have stolen from a classroom.

“Sorry, Mike!” Jake called, looking back at him with a grin.

Jake wound up winning the race, and Michael approached him after, nervously fiddling with the drawstrings of his hoodie.

“Hey, Jake?”

“What’s up?” Jake asked, noticing the look on Michael’s face and dropping his voice to a gentle, calmer tone.

“So, like…You’re popular,” Michael started, mentally hitting himself. What a stupid thing to say.

“Yeah,” Jake replied, raising an eyebrow.

“”And you have a girlfriend.”

“Correct.”

“How do you do it?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, like…” Michael trailed off, feeling himself blushing. “How do you flirt? And all that stupid romantic shit.”

Jake was grinning now. “Take a seat, my friend,” he said, gesturing to the now abandoned chair Brooke had crashed into a locker.

Michael did as he was told.

“May I ask who Michael Mell is trying to impress?”

“Absolutely not,” Michael replied.

Jake chuckled. “Alright. Well, I assume it is a guy, right?”

“Jake, I have two rainbow patches on my hoodie. I’m your vice president of GSA. What do you think?”

“So yeah, it’s a guy,” Jake said, amusement dancing in his brown eyes. “Do you know a lot about him?”

“Not really,” Michael admitted. “We only…recently became friends.”

Jake gave him a look that screamed, ‘I know exactly who you’re talking about’, but he didn’t pester Michael trying to guess. He just nodded. “Well, you should get to know him then! Figure out something that he likes, and find a way to connect to him with it. You like video games, right?”

Michael nodded.

“Well, there’s a very good chance that he does too,” Jake said, winking with every other word. “Invite him over to play sometime. See where it goes!”

Michael couldn’t imagine actually sucking up the courage to ask Rich to come to his house, but if Jake said that was what he had to do, he’d do it.

“You’re the best, Jake,” Michael said, touching his arm softly.

“I try,” Jake replied, patting Michael’s hand. “Now go get your boy, Mell. Good luck.”

Michael couldn’t even try to hide his smile as he walked off.

***

Ever since the loss of his SQUIP, Rich was quieter. It was almost like he didn’t know what to say without being told his every move. He had his for much longer than Jeremy did, so he had more to recover from in that sense.

“Hey, Rich,” Michael said, taking a seat beside him.

Rich looked up, and a small smile curled on his lips when he realized who it was. “Hey, Michael! What’s up?”

“Jeremy and Christine were sucking faces and I couldn’t stand it anymore,” he replied. “I saw you over here and figured you could save me.”

Rich huffed out a little laugh, muffling the sound against his fist. “Jake and Chloe have been the same. Jenna keeps calling them gross heteros,” he laughed.

“But neither of them are even straight!” Michael replied, grinning.  
“She’s just messing with them obviously. Jake always pulls the GSA president card on her.”

“He always pulls that card.”

Rich giggled again, pressing his knuckles against his lips. Michael wanted to take his wrist and pull it away, making the sound audible. Jeremy did the same thing, hiding his laughter. Michael had tried to tickle the habit out of him, and he definitely did it less since then.

He felt a twinge in his stomach at the idea of doing the same to Rich, and quickly shook the thought away.

He cleared his throat. “So, uh, I know we aren’t super close or anything but…Jeremy is going to the movies with Christine tomorrow and I haven’t played Apocalypse of the Damned in weeks, and I think I’m having withdrawals. I was wondering if you wanted to come over?”

Rich’s eyes widened a little, and for a second, Michael thought he was going to laugh in his face. Then, his freckled cheeks went a little pink.

“Yeah, totally. I’ve never played that one, so you’ll have to teach me.”

“That’s perfect. Perfectly fine, I mean. Perfectly fine. I’m sure you’ll catch on quick,” Michael said, stumbling over his words.

“Text me your address…I can drive over whenever,” Rich said.

“Alright, cool,” Michael replied, pulling out his phone. “See you later?”

“Yeah, see you.”

***

“So, I took your advice-”

“Yeah?” Jake nudged him in the side, grinning.

Michael batted him away, smiling shyly. “He’s coming over tonight. We’re gonna play video games, maybe order food…”

“I’m so proud,” Jake said. “Hey, don’t be nervous! Just be yourself. Believe me when I say this: he will like you for you, so don’t bother trying to act different.”

Michael could feel his face flushing, and tried to play it off. “Ha, yeah, thanks dude,” he said before turning on his heel to leave, only for Jake to grab his hand.

“Michael, I’m pretty sure I know exactly who this guy is, so trust me, okay?”

Michael nodded.

“He likes Chinese food, if you’re gonna order,” he said. “Oh, and he can be a bit of a sore loser when it comes to video games, so just poke him a couple times to get him smiling again.”

If Michael wasn’t flustered already, that comment probably turned him as red as his hoodie. “Huh?”

“He’s really ticklish,” Jake said, mischief evident in his expression. “But don’t tell him I told you, cause his revenge can be brutal.”

Michael just nodded again, feeling a little dizzy.

“Break a leg!” Jake cried. “Though, not literally, unless you wanna be wheelchair buddies with me,” he added.

If Rich were out of the picture, Michael could probably fall for Jake.

***

Michael told Rich to come by around seven that night. The doorbell rang at exactly 7:02. Michael rushed to the door before either of his moms could get up.

“Hey!” Michael said with a grin.

“Hi,” Rich replied, smiling back.

It wasn’t until then that Michael truly took in their height difference of about six inches, literally looking down at Rich as he let him into the house.

“My room is down here,” he said, pulling open the basement door.

Rich followed, his eyes roaming and taking in the details of his house as he did.

“So, uh, I figured we could order food if you want?” Michael said.

Rich flushed a little. “I don’t have any money actually, but I ate something at home so-”

“My treat,” Michael said. “My neighbor paid me to fix his computer for him last weekend. It just had some stupid virus that he clearly got from a porn site, it took me all of ten minutes.”

“I can pay you back when-”

“My treat,” Michael repeated, sitting down on the couch.

Rich tentatively followed, sitting down and scanning his eyes over the posters on Michael’s walls, seemingly intrigued.

“I was thinking Chinese food,” Michael said.

Rich visibly perked up. “That’s my favorite,” he admitted.

Michael grinned.

An hour later, they were full of sushi and rice, and Rich was getting pretty good at Apocalypse of the Damned.

“And when they come at you from behind you can use the right trigger to turn and shoot faster,” Michael said, demonstrating.

Rich copied him, successfully killing a zombie and giving a little ‘whoop!’ of triumph.

Michael couldn’t help but stare a little, which only resulted in his character dying.

“Shit,” he swore under his breath. He watched Rich struggle to fend off the rest, and ultimately dying as well.

With a pout on his face, Rich leaned back on the couch. “We were so close!”

“Don’t be a sore loser,” Michael said, Jake’s advice echoing in his head. And he reached out with slightly shaky fingers and softly prodded at Rich’s side.

Wow. Jake hadn’t been kidding. Rich recoiled instantly, a giggle slipping out between his lips involuntarily, a blush creeping its way down his neck.

Michael raised his eyebrows. “Are you-?” he started to ask. Normally Jeremy was the one who was too embarrassed to say the word, but Michael could feel his own face heating up as his mouth started to form the ‘t’. However, he didn’t get that far, as Rich cut him off.

“No!” he said, defensively crossing his arms across his stomach.

“You know, Jeremy’s a sore loser too,” Michael began. “And as his best friend, I needed to find a way to cheer him up after a brutal level.”

Rich gulped.

And Michael didn’t know where his courage had come from, but all of a sudden the two boys were wrestling on Michael’s couch, laughter bubbling from each of their mouths as hands reached for exposed sensitive spots, squeezing and scribbling.

And when Michael got his hands under Rich’s arms, it wasn’t long til he cried for mercy, which Michael immediately granted him.

They laid there, panting for a moment, before realizing they were essentially cuddling and pulling away, both blushing furiously.

“Uh, sorry about that,” Michael said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I guess I just got carried away, but…You have a really nice laugh.”

Rich’s face looked like it should burst from how much blood was in it, but it didn’t. He sat there, staring at Michael with an expression he couldn’t quite place, until-

Rich was kissing him. Michael hadn’t kissed anyone since he was thirteen, him and Jeremy deeming it an innocent teenage experiment. But when Rich’s lips touched his, he suddenly knew exactly what to do, kissing back with vigor.

They pulled away for a moment, before dissolving into nervous, giddy laughter again.

Michael would have to thank Jake tomorrow.

***

Jake took full credit for his two friends finally getting their shit together and kissing, which kind of hinted to Rich that he’d told Michael about a certain weakness of his, which lead to him exacting some pretty hilarious revenge on him.

Michael no longer felt lonely, and he could appreciate and enjoy his friend’s happiness at full capacity, as well as feel supported in his own relationship.

It didn’t take long until Brooke and Jenna were getting together, making their little group of friends a group of adorable couples.

Michael couldn’t have felt more lucky.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!  
> Feedback is always appreciated!  
> Tumblr: ticklishraspberries.tumblr.com  
> Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/V7V8FT1O


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